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Alemba Service Manager vs BMC Helix ITSM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alemba Service Manager
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
23rd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Alemba Service Manager is 0.8%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 11.1%, down from 13.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1099623 - PeerSpot reviewer
Fulfills all IT management needs, simple setup, but could be more user-friendly
Unfortunately, we were not able to implement the mobility feature so I won't be able to provide feedback on it (and it was something that has been requested since we have field workers and given the WFH case due to the pandemic). This is due to results of security tests and which we were not yet able to address in our environment. We've been also trying to integrate our current system with discovery solutions but it was not easy. I am not sure if it is due to the fact that we still have an older version of the AlembavFire product. Also, users are also requesting that the current system's UI can still be improved. For those of our users who had experienced ServiceNow, they cited that they can do RFC chats via the tool. In our group, we are using AlembavFire for recording the ticket and do other discussions/alignments via Teams chat.
Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
Development team is quick to address bugs or shortcomings in their product
BMC's technical support team needs to improve. Right now, the problem over here is we are not getting the exact answers on time. Their engineers are mainly based in the US or Israel, and we get comprehensive dedicated support. Some of the Indian customer service representatives are also outstanding. Unfortunately, in the past six months or seven months, I've been getting brand-new engineers. Either they're not entirely aware of most cases, or they don't know how to troubleshoot further. So for any product to be stable and work correctly, BMC must ensure that customer service is excellent. Even though if your product is a hundred percent, we'll have problems marketing it to our customers.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"When we met with the Alemba vFire from Australia, it was a good discussion and they have a good feature roadmap."
"Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"The workflow is very good, as well as customizable."
"MyIT is simple to use and its mobility is a big plus for our on the go users."
"The most valuable features I have found to be the activity logs and the other features where you are able to continuously address issues and are able to annotate notes inside to convey them to the customer."
"Smart IT and the phone app are easily the most valuable features in reporting and tracking ongoing issues."
"The solution is already aligned with the framework, so it is easy for us to proceed with any ISO 27K certification."
"Helix is stable."
"Automatic orchestration is the most valuable. The feature for designating some cases or incidents to the right PM for resolution, first call resolution, and change management are also important. The self-service feature and knowledge base resolutions are helping the customers in resolving issues rather than opening tickets."
"Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal."
"Technical support has been fine."
 

Cons

"The reporting needs to be improved."
"The product should improve its ability to integrate with third-party tools."
"We had issues with the user interface, the way it was structured wasn't that user-friendly. The chat features could improve. For example, in change management, all the chat discussions can be done via ServiceNow. We are using two separate solutions, such as Teams, to chat, and the Alemba vFire tool to process."
"Regarding reporting, when sharing information with leadership, we utilize BI support and data or more analytical tools. These tools provide accurate and comprehensive reports, covering various aspects. Reports are either sent directly through email or automated using scripts. It would be beneficial to integrate similar capabilities into BMC for future use. Many applications we work with already have a centralized virtual automation tool, such as Control M, but manual effort is still required. Improvements in automation for accurate and efficient reporting in BMC would be valuable."
"Needs less infrastructure requirements."
"The documentation could improve in BMC Helix ITSM."
"The interface is somewhat dated as compared to technologies in use today."
"It takes a long-time to plan and deploy the on-premise solution."
"Encountered issues with scalability and stability."
"The interface is one major complaint about this product."
"BMC Helix ITSM could improve by having a cloud version. They are working on it which is a good thing because their competitors, such as ServiceNow, already provide cloud services."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Alemba vFire is more affordable than the other solutions on the market. The solution changes for the number of customers not per user or module. The price was reasonable overall. We paid for support and it was a fair price."
"The product is much cheaper than ServiceNow."
"The solution's pricing should come down."
"While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."
"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."
"We did not compare the price of BMC Helix ITSM to other vendors. However, it has a mid-range price."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM is expensive."
"It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."
"If Customer and IT agents are happy, that is one of the greatest ROI. However, one of the major factors is Leadership, because at the end they have to justify the cost."
"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Non Profit
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alemba vFire?
Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution.
What needs improvement with Alemba vFire?
The product should improve its ability to integrate with third-party tools. The service portal should be customizable.
What is your primary use case for Alemba vFire?
The product is used for incident management, change management, and request management. We can store assets like people, machines, and processes in CMDB. We can also use the solution to see the cha...
What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
In User Group sessions held by BMC in India, I mentioned the challenges with vast documentation, making it difficult to find the right information quickly. The recent move to a new platform is bene...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
I am currently working as a BMC Remedy developer. I have been working for over ten years on the BMC platform. My company uses BMC Helix ITSM for IT service management processes.
 

Also Known As

vFire
Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Hiscox Liverpool City Council Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) PPG Barnardo's Victoria University of Wellington
Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Find out what your peers are saying about Alemba Service Manager vs. BMC Helix ITSM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.